1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system for identifying a bicycle during operation during periods of low light, such as dawn, dusk and night hours, where visibility to approaching vehicular traffic is diminished and illumination of objects is impaired.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Riders of bicycles, mopeds and similar vehicles frequently ride in the streets during periods of diminished light, especially at dusk. This often occurs for child cyclists during summertime when they are away from home playing or involved in organized activities, such as sports. Also, many adults ride bicycles for transportation and cannot always time their ride time to occur only bright daylight hours. In addition, bicyclists are frequently caught away from home base at the onset of rain showers, when light is diminished due to lack of sun and the incidence of rain, and are forced to travel at those times.
In all these instances, the diminished lighting poses serious risk of inadequate visibility of the cyclist to motorists driving cars and trucks, and the all-too-real possibility of being struck, resulting in serious injury or worse. Thus, there long has been a real need for reliable safety lighting to enable motorists to clearly see and identify cyclists during periods of diminished lighting.
Many different types of lighting have been developed and are in use, including battery-powered and generator-powered headlights, various types of handlebar, seat and frame mounted reflectors facing forward and rearward, cycle-mounted blinking strobe lights, and wheel spoke mounted reflectors facing sideways to identify bicycles during dusk or night operations. None of these adequately positively identifies a bicyclist to motorists at a sufficiently safe distance.
In addition, other types of clothing, accessory and helmet mounted lighting systems, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,755xe2x80x94Rapisarda, U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,213xe2x80x94Holce, U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,517xe2x80x94Fenton, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,213xe2x80x94Baumgartner, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,680xe2x80x94Tabanera. These all require that the rider dutifully wear the jacket, helmet or bib, or mount the storage pack on the bicycle.
Yet others have proposed lighting systems for bicycle wheels that are battery powered. U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,305xe2x80x94Deed et al discloses a sinuous tube of LEDs threaded through wheel spokes that are battery powered, while U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,635xe2x80x94Peterson et al shows a spoke-mounted triangular light that is intermittently powered by a battery. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,561xe2x80x94Lahos discloses a spoke-mounted light that is powered by a wheel generator and includes a capacitor storage device for power when the wheel is not in motion. There has been no known commercialization of any of these devices. Other devices use pulsing lights mounted on the bicycle wheel spokes.
Children are notorious for forgetting to wear or use safety devices, usually thinking of them as nuisances. Since the most at-risk cyclists are children and adolescents, there is a need for a bicycle safety light that possesses a sufficient xe2x80x9cWOW!xe2x80x9d factor (a xe2x80x9ccoolxe2x80x9d device that all kids will want) so that it is desirable and use is mostly assured. There is a need for a bicycle lighting system which is visible to approaching traffic and attractive to the children and youth so that they will be motivated to use and maintain the system in a functional condition, thus assuring use of the safety feature.
It is an object of this invention to provide a bicycle lighting system that is very visible to approaching motorists and other traffic.
It is another object of this invention to provide a bicycle safety light system that will be simple to use and maintain, thereby assuring a high level of use.
The present invention features a system of Electro-Luminescence (E-L) light panels, mounted on bicycle or other cycle wheels, that are arranged and shaped such that, when the wheels are turning, the panels present what appears to be a rotating bright disc, pie shapes of light or other shapes, that have high visibility from sufficient distances to adequately apprise motorists of the presence of the cyclist. Other light panels may be mounted on the bicycle frame, seat and handlebars to provide additional visibility. Unique power means are also presented as part of this invention.
In one aspect, this invention features a cycle wheel safety lighting system having a plurality of electro-luminescent panels spaced about the wheels of a bicycle for rotation therewith, electrical power means to energize the light emitting panels causing the panels to light up, and power control means for controlling delivery of electrical power to the panels to provide a bright, pulsating visual image when the cycle is in motion.
These and other objects and features of this invention will become more readily apparent upon reference to the following detailed description of preferred and other embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.